Chief Operating Officer

Scion Executive Search; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 210,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Save the Redwoods League in San Francisco seeks a seasoned COO to translate vision into operational excellence across strategy, planning, and execution. You will lead Operations, IT, and People & Culture, guiding a team of about 80 staff while partnering with the CEO and Board.

This role emphasizes servant leadership, systems thinking, and a collaborative, outcome‑oriented approach to conservation work in California’s redwood landscapes.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading enterprise operations and strategic planning in a senior role.
• Strong track record in cross-functional execution and change management.
• Ability to design practical systems and processes adopted by users.

Responsibilities

• Serve as trusted partner to the President & CEO and represent executive leadership as needed.
• Translate strategic direction into measurable priorities and action plans.
• Lead organization-wide planning across strategy, operations, safety, and culture.

Skills

Strategic Planning

Operational Leadership

Project Management

People Leadership

Cross-functional Collaboration

Stakeholder Communication

Job description

Scion Executive Search has been retained to conduct the search for a collaborative, strategic, and experienced Chief Operating Officer on behalf of Save the Redwoods League, a California conservation organization protecting and restoring coast redwood and giant sequoia ecosystems and connecting people with the beauty, resilience, and climate significance of these extraordinary forests. Based in San Francisco and working within the League’s hybrid environment, the COO will help build the organizational capacity needed to advance an ambitious new chapter of conservation impact.

This is an opportunity for a deeply collaborative and highly capable operational leader to help shape the next chapter of one of the nation’s most enduring conservation organizations. The COO will have the mandate, executive partnership, and organizational reach to strengthen how the League works, develop its people and systems, and translate ambitious conservation goals into sustained impact across California’s redwood landscapes.

ABOUT SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE:

For more than a century, Save the Redwoods League has protected and restored California’s coast redwood and giant sequoia forests while expanding parks and meaningful public access. The League has protected more than 220,000 acres of redwood forest, restored 37,000 acres, and helped create or expand 76 redwood parks. Today, a diverse team of more than 80 professionals advances work spanning land protection, restoration and stewardship, parks and community engagement, and science and discovery.

The League is entering a consequential chapter. Its Centennial Vision calls for conservation at a new scale—accelerating the protection and restoration of redwood landscapes and building the partnerships, financing approaches, systems, and organizational capacity required to sustain that ambition. This evolution requires an organization that is increasingly nimble, entrepreneurial, connected, and disciplined in execution while remaining deeply grounded in its values of transparency, inclusivity, trust, and joy in the work.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

Reporting to the President & CEO, the COO will serve as a trusted strategic partner, enterprise leader, and organizational integrator—translating vision into clear priorities, coordinated action, and measurable results. The COO will serve as a trusted deputy and force multiplier to the CEO: informed across the organization, present and accessible to staff, empowered to make decisions within delegated authority, and prepared to represent the CEO and Executive Team when appropriate.

The COO will directly oversee Operations, Information Technology, and People & Culture while exercising broad influence across an approximately 80-person organization. Far more than an administrator, this leader will create the planning disciplines, project-management practices, communications, accountability, and supportive culture that enable teams to do their best work. The role is especially well suited for a systems thinker who understands that sustainable change happens through people—someone who can listen, build trust and buy-in, clarify the “why,” and move complex, multidisciplinary work from idea to completion without relying on formal authority.

The successful candidate will bring strategic range, operational depth, a servant‑leadership orientation, and a positive, energetic presence. They will know when planning is sufficient, how to remove roadblocks, and how to sustain momentum while preserving collaboration, humanity, and joy.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Serve as a trusted strategic partner and deputy to the President & CEO, exercising delegated authority, advising on organizational risks and tradeoffs, and representing executive leadership as appropriate.
• Translate the League’s strategic direction and Centennial Vision into clear organizational priorities, operational frameworks, project plans, and measurable outcomes.
• Lead integrated organization-wide planning across strategy, annual priorities, operations, safety, and culture, establishing practical measures of progress, clear accountability, and effective reporting.
• Drive complex, cross-functional initiatives from planning through completion by aligning stakeholders, coordinating multidisciplinary workstreams, resolving barriers, and reinforcing commitments without relying on direct line authority.
• Build trust and organizational buy-in by listening closely, communicating the purpose behind change, and helping teams distinguish between valuable precedent and practices that must evolve.
• Strengthen the League’s organizational infrastructure by integrating systems, processes, communications, and decision-making practices to reduce friction, improve coordination, and enable timely, well‑informed action.
• Lead workforce planning and organizational design in partnership with the Executive Team, aligning staffing, budgets, contractors, and other resources with the League’s strategic priorities.
• Provide executive leadership for People & Culture in close partnership with the Director of People & Culture, aligning talent, organizational design, leadership development, employee experience, compensation, and people practices with the League’s strategy, mission, and values.
• Champion a multiyear people and culture strategy that strengthens belonging, equitable access to opportunity, inclusive leadership, organizational accountability, employee engagement, and joy in the work.
• Oversee information technology, facilities, and workplace operations, including organizational systems, cybersecurity, vendor performance, technical support, lease administration, shared resources, and resolution of issues affecting staff productivity.
• Provide strategic, workforce‑planning, project‑management, and operational support for landscape‑scale conservation activities on League‑owned properties, including safety, fleet management, compliance, and the systems required for effective field operations.
• Champion an organization‑wide culture of safety, preparedness, and shared accountability across office and field environments, with clear ownership of risk management, training, emergency readiness, incident response, and regulatory compliance.
• Partner with the CEO to support the Board of Directors and relevant committees by coordinating high‑quality materials, attending board meetings, and contributing to effective governance and decision‑making.
• During the first year, establish trust across the organization and develop a strong understanding of the League’s people, culture, systems, and ways of working.
• Advance several priority systems and process improvements that reduce administrative friction, strengthen cross‑functional execution, and demonstrate the organization’s ability to move complex initiatives from planning through implementation.
• Help staff and leaders navigate organizational change with clarity, optimism, and empathy while building the operational foundation needed to advance the Centennial Vision and increasingly ambitious conservation initiatives.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• At least five years of experience in a COO role or a comparable senior leadership position with significant responsibility for enterprise operations, strategic planning, organizational effectiveness, or cross‑functional execution; the COO title itself is not required.
• Demonstrated success serving as a strategic partner to a President, CEO, or similarly senior leader—proactively assessing challenges, developing practical solutions, and improving organizational performance.
• Exceptional project‑management experience, including a record of bringing complex, multidisciplinary initiatives to completion through influence, collaboration, prioritization, and disciplined follow‑through.
• Proven ability to design and implement systems and processes that are practical, adopted by users, and responsive to organizational culture—not simply sound in theory.
• Experience leading organizations through growth, complexity, significant change, and periods requiring sound judgment, steadiness, and decisive action.
• Strong people leadership and team‑building capabilities, with the emotional intelligence to develop leaders, establish accountability, navigate resistance, and connect credibly with staff at every level.
• An emotionally intelligent and accountable people leader who develops others, addresses difficult issues directly and constructively, builds trust across differences, and connects credibly with staff at every level of the organization.
• A collaborative, positive, energetic, and service‑oriented leadership style, paired with humility, sound judgment, resilience, and the ability to create trust and joy in demanding work.
• Demonstrated ability to lead with an equity‑informed lens, strengthening organizational effectiveness by embedding inclusion, belonging, access, and accountability into strategy, leadership practices, talent systems, and organizational change efforts.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to communicate succinctly and persuasively with staff, executives, board members, partners, and other stakeholders.
• Strong command of core organizational functions, including strategic planning, budgeting, internal operations, human resources, communications, information systems, facilities, safety, and risk management.
• Experience supporting field‑based, geographically distributed, or operationally complex work is strongly valued; knowledge of the systems, equipment, and planning required for conservation and restoration operations is advantageous.
• Nonprofit, public‑sector, or mission‑driven experience is helpful but not required. Conservation experience is welcomed but is secondary to demonstrated operational leadership and an authentic commitment to the League’s mission.
• Training or certification in organizational development, project management, or change leadership is preferred.